Code Geass: Divergent Strife
by DarkLord98
Summary: When everything goes according to plan, nobody panics, regardless of the whether or not what happened was good or pleasant. But, what happens when someone who has seen the finale of the plan decides to kick fate off of its intended path? Will the world be guided towards destruction? Or perhaps a better future? Only time will tell. Spoilers for Akito the Exiled. SI's in a GOUF.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: 'ello folks, sorry I was away for so long, my old laptop got black screen'd to death, so I was busy saving my notes and arts, which are now safely stored on cloud** _ **AND**_ **an external hard-drive.**

 **Anyway, I recently started watching Code Geass again, and, well, I decided to take a peek at the CG section of 's archives, and well, I was somewhat disappointed at the few SI fics I found, more often than not having the SI appearing in a Britannian base, oddly enough always pairing up with Cornelia, and the one CG SI fic that doesn't do that had the MC reincarnated as a part of Royalty.**

 **And well, I think you guys know what happens when I see unexplored SI soil...I start plowing the field and planting SEEDs...let's hope I don't GOUF this up.**

* * *

 **Also, in case any of you are interested, I have this little Code Geass RP forum called "Irregularity Code" going on, and the basic premise is that 5 Off-Worlders** _(People from our world)_ **get thrown into the world of Code Geass, some getting put into bodies of off-screen characters, some getting OC Bodies, and some getting dropped in as themselves.**

 **And well, an Off-Worlder spot just opened up, and we _do_ need more players anyway, so I hope you'll join up.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _'Thought'_

 _ **[System Message]**_

 _«"Friendly/Neutral comm_ _"»_

 ** _«"Enemy KMF Open comm_ _"»_**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.**

* * *

A downward swing of a giant mechanized soldier's sword.

 _ **[AI Unit 012: Destroyed]**_ Static-filled screen closed the remote controlled lost to the opponent.

A volley of gunfire from a pair of similar soldiers in red and white.

 _ **[AI Units 007: Destroyed]**_ the last extra screen filled with static before closing.

' _Well, there goes the last drone'_ thought the young commander of these drones, switching the display on her cockpit to one feeding her image from their surveillance balloon. The only functioning Alexander units remaining were hers and Lt. Hyuga's, but thankfully, the Warrant Officers hadn't perished, a fact that caused the young commander to sigh in relief.

However, her relief was cut short as she spotted movement on her screen, an enemy heading towards Akito's location but why was he just standing there? Was there something wrong with his unit?

As she was about to contact the lieutenant of the incoming enemy, static and buzz assaulted her ears, the surveillance feed on her cockpit's holographic screen froze and the screen itself became filled with static. Cursing, she charged forward, the tires propelling her white insect-like machine kicking up dirt and debris as she swerved through the abandoned streets of the Polish town, Slonim.

Turning around the corner, she came to a halt as a two-story house suddenly exploded in a shower of debris.

 _'W-what is that unit?'_ were the thoughts running through the blonde commander's mind as she ducked behind the corner, zooming onto the image of the new unit that fell from the skies, its form revealed as the cloud of debris faded away.

If the young woman were to describe the new machine with one word, it would be big, definitely big and imposing, much larger than either the Alexander units of her W-0 troops or the Euro-Britannian Sutherlands, this new machine towering over them, it's singular eye swerved from left to right, observing the battlefield before it stopped, staring straight forward, and as she followed the line of its gaze, Leila saw Lieutenant Hyuga and a man who bore a striking resemblance to her Japanese Lieutenant, standing atop the shoulder of a golden Knightmare that previous records indicated to be personal unit of the Knights of St. Michael's leader, both men reacting to the unknown machine in different manners.

Akito seemed like he hadn't even noticed the new arrival, his gaze locked onto his brother, his mind confused and shocked by the revelation that Shin was working for Britannia.

* * *

 ***Shin Hyuga Shaing's POV***

"Excuse me Akito, but it seems like your friends want to play." The adopted son of the Shaing family said to his younger brother as he dropped into the cockpit of his Vercingetorix, the golden machine coming to life as the cockpit's hatch closed.

 _'This is turning out to be a rather fortuitous week.'_ he thought to himself as he grabbed his SDA Axe, a rather odd weapon consisting of a long spear shaft that connects to a multitude of large gears, blades protruding from few of them, while his Vercingetorix shifted to its HSM Form, the two equine legs underneath it's cockpit moving to the back of it.

First his knighting ceremony to become the Grand Master of the Knights of St. Michael, then the reveal that his little brother had somehow defied fate by surviving, although perhaps the little rascal simply didn't want his dear older brother to save the world alone, and now, this new machine. It certainly wasn't a Britannian unit, nor was it one of those reported to be used by the Black Knights, although the mere chance of those rebels appearing again was unlikely, considering the death of their masked leader.

Shin charged forward as his weapon roared to life, the gears shifting the weapon to its full length, intending on making a passing attack with his superior ground speed and mobility, the main advantage of the unit's four-legged design.

However, the bulky unit didn't attempt to move out of the way, instead it swung its left arm back, extending a metallic whip from its forearm before it swung the whip at the approaching machine. A shame, Shin thought, having expected the machine to either open fire with the guns attached to its right forearm or attempt to block his charge with the shield it held in its left arm.

But still, no reason to allow himself to be struck by the weapon when he knew so little about its capabilities, and so, in a show of agility, the golden mechanical centaur jumped out of the whip's way, the metal tendril creating a crater when it struck the pavement.

However, the pilot of the mysterious horned green and black machine seemed to have been expecting this as it raised its left arm, aiming the two barrels on its arm at the airborne 7th Generation Knightmare, a barrage of crimson beams shooting towards their target.

"What!" Shin gasped, in a moment of genuine surprise as he swung at the laser beams with the broad side of his weapon to block the shots, the resounding explosion sending parts of his weapon flying, and him back to the ground, the Japanese Pilot only barely managing to land his Knightmare on its feet, now looking at the new machine with suspicion and intrigue as he discarded his ruined SDA Axe.

It was now clear that the machine before him was at least 6th, if not 7th generation, but which group had made it? It certainly wasn't the EU, as not only did they lack the technology to make such a machine, but they would have no doubt put it to their frontlines, rather than here. Not to mention their spies in the EU would have informed them if the Europeans had managed to create beam weaponry.

Could it really be from the Black Knights, or some other Anti-Britannian group? The bulky design of the unit was certainly strange, the head of the unit reminding Shin of a German helmet and gas mask he had seen in a museum when he was a child, although the black fin-like horn on it seemed to denote it as some sort of commander unit, but that combined with the spherical shoulder guards and the skirt-like armor of the machine gave no hints towards the maker of the Knightmare.

 _'Regardless, we'll know more once I capture it.'_ Shin thought, withdrawing the lone ranged weapon of his Knightmare, a semi-automatic shotgun and opened fire as he began running, only for the cyclopean unit to jump up, taking to the skies as the pilot folded open the wings of the machine, the thrusters attached to the legs flaring to life for extra momentum, the machine climbing up into the sky like an angel of death.

* * *

"The hell, that thing can fly?!" A Japanese young man with wind-swept brown hair and brawny build, holding a European assault rifle exclaimed in disbelief as he saw the one-eyed machine that had appeared out of fucking nowhere rise up into the sky seemingly without a hitch.

Seriously, something that fuckin' huge should not be able to fly!

"Of course it did Ryo, considering how it literally dropped down onto the ground." the brash young man's comrade, a rather feminine looking young man with a lighter shade of brown hair and green eyes said, before looking at Akito, who they had managed to snap out of whatever shock he was in and drag him away from the two combatting Knightmares.

"So, you think the big guy's on our side?" he asked, deciding to save the questions he had about the guy in the Britannian Knightmare who had called Akito his brother for later.

"I dunno, it definitely didn't look like any Knightmare I've seen." the fourth person, and the only female in the alleyway, another Japanese youth with black hair and brown eyes said, dressed in the same blue-and-red skin-tight piloting suit worn by every member of the W-O squad, accentuating her "assets", something that had been a small source of embarrassment for the Japanese girl, who promised to herself that if she ever met whoever designed those things, she'd give them a piece of her mind.

Sure, she hadn't exactly seen a lot of Knightmares, mostly just the Glasgow they used in their attempt to kidnap the General guy, the Gardmare that Ryo took out, the Alexanders they piloted and the ones piloted by the Britannians they fought during the mission, but the one that was fighting that weird golden one wasn't like anything she had seen, both in sheer size and appearance.

Akito shook his head. When he got over the shock of meeting his brother again, and the resulting headache that accompanied thinking about him, Akito was able to look at the Frame with a more critical outlook. Just from the design, he could tell that it wasn't designed by the EU's tech division, a thought that was further cemented when the unit deployed its beam weaponry. The EU was just barely starting to catch up to Britannia in terms of Knightmare technology with the experimental Alexander frames the W-0's Eleven recruits piloted, so the idea of them all of a sudden making a unit that had not only beam weaponry, but flight technology was absurd.

"Commander, your orders?" Akito requested. He knew that with their current armaments, they were at a severe disadvantage. If his brother defeated the mystery unit, then they would no doubt die, or be captured, the same being equally possible if the mystery unit defeated his brother. However, the EU military might've already started pushing back the Britannians, so they could possibly attempt to hide until the Main EU military came.

 _«"…I have a plan Lt. Hyuga, I'll be there soon."»_ came the slightly static-toned voice of their commander.

* * *

"Incredible…" Shin muttered as he watched the machine staring down at him, it's red eye gleaming. To think that a machine of such girth was able to fly with such ease. But, then again, the Gawain had also been able to fly, and from the data listed in the database, the stolen 6th Generation Knightmare had been of similar stature.

 _«"Lord Hyuga!"»_ Shin's mind snapped back to the attention as he noticed the arrival of his second-in-command, Jeanne Rowe in her Gracchus. Oh, he was well aware of the how she masked her gender, but in the grand schemes of his plan to save the world from its pain of living, it mattered little whether his second-in-command was a man or a woman, the only thing that mattered was her loyalty and skill, and so far, she hadn't disappointed him.

"What is it, Jean? I'm in the middle of something," he said, maneuvering away from another barrage of beams from his airborne opponent, noticing that they were at a stalemate of sorts. He was too fast for the airborne machine to shoot, and yet, he was stuck on the ground, unable to reach him.

 _«"It's the 2nd Field Army, they've disobeyed orders and sent reinforcements here, and the Europeans are pushing our forces back."»_ Shin frowned at the news. He had been oh so hoping to continue his chat with Akito, and possibly the pilot of this new machine.

 _ **«"Hey now, you're not attempting to run now, are you, Shin Hyuga Shaing?"»**_ came the voice of a young man on the open broadcast channel.

"So then, you know who I am, but I'm afraid I can't extend the same courtesy," Shin said, hopping onto the rooftop a building, attempting to get enough altitude to at least get a good shot onto his mysterious opponent before he and Jeanne had to retreat.

 _ **«"Aye, ta name's Edgar Barrett, and we're not finished yet, or did Manfredi "kill himself" out of shame for training such a craven shite of an apprentice?"»**_ Through the rather crass introduction, Shin and Jeanne respectively noticed different things.

 _«"Y-You're Britannian! Why are you fighting for the Europeans?"»_ Jeanne shouted, demanding an answer as she opened fire with her assault rifle, only for Edgar to block the shots with his shield. She could understand a lowly Number spurning the ideologies and grace of the Holy Britannian Empire, but a fellow Britannian? Incomprehensible!

"Indeed. We are all children of Britannia, so why fight amongst ourselves? I'm sure you could climb up rather high up my Order, so why not power down and join your people?" Shin said with narrowed eyes. Obviously this _"Edgar Barrett"_ knew something about Lord Manfredi's true fate, and his own involvement, and while he doubted that his opponent could provide any substantial evidence of his guilt, as the existence of the power he was given couldn't and frankly wouldn't be believed in any court, but there wasn't any harm in making sure that this Traitor to Britannia wouldn't get a chance to even attempt that.

There was silence on the channel, until… they heard a chuckle, which soon erupted into a full-blown laughter of amusement and ridicule.

 _«"What's so funny? Lord Hyuga's offer is most gracious, and with his power, so you'd be a fool for declining it."»_

 _ **«"Haaah, ya know Jeanne, if it was Manfredi, then sure, I'd consider taking the old bean up on his offer, but see, here's the problem."»**_ Edgar laughed as he opened shot a small barrage at Jeanne to get her fat arse to back off, before he turned to the approaching Shin. The little shite thought he was smart, jumping from building to building, until he could take a shot at him, did he? Well, too bad this Gouf had sharp sensors.

 _ **«"Your leader's a daft cunt and as duplicitous as a snake."»**_ Edgar smirked, launching a metal cable from the machine's right arm, surprising Shin as the cable wrapped around the neck of his Knightmare like a noose, the following pull dragging him off of the roof the building he had jumped onto, the resulting impact, slamming his head against the main screen of his cockpit, his mech now hanging in the air.

Shin cursed, a compartment in his Vercingetorix opening up to reveal a golden hilt, his last-resort weapon, the experimental Blaze Luminous Sword, a brainchild of Avalon's top researchers, made on the concept of taking the technology from the Blaze Luminous shield and focusing it into a sword.

As a blade made of solid energy that would theoretically be a match for the Maser Vibration Swords, which could cleave Knightmare Frames in twine, it should have no trouble cutting him loose.

 _ **«"And so, "Lord" Shin Hyuga Shaing, you can that offer of yours, AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR BLOODY ARSE!"»**_ The shout of refusal was accompanied by a current of electricity running through the cable wrapped around the Vercingetorix's neck, Shin's grunts and occasional screams of agony, spurring the red-haired crossdressing knight to action, her Landspinners hitting the ground running tires squealing.

 _«"SHIN! LET GO OF HIM YOU BASTARD!"»_ Jeanne shouted, her face twisting into a venomous and hateful glare as she charged forward, her Rapier drawn as she charged the one who was harming the man she loved. However, she didn't get far, as she was forced to evade.

 _«"WHO_ _ **DARES?!**_ _"»_ Her scowl was outright murderous as she turned her head towards the source of the gunfire, she saw another one of those **damned** bug-like Knightmares that those Asura Force idiots had been fighting, but unlike the ones she had gunned down, this one was white in design, numerous blue accents on it, including a cross on its forehead, and a halo behind its head, as if the lowly bug of thought itself as some sort of holy saint.

 _ **«"Me."»**_ came the hateful, yet happy voice of the Knightmare's pilot, the Ant-like Knightmare charging forward, ready to bring one of its two stake-shaped tonfas to bear.

Jeanne growled, charging to meet her foe, her rifle singing its song of fury loudly, like a roaring lioness, the wretched bug jumping around like a demented grasshopper, her shots hitting nothing but the pavement and concrete, her anger increasing with each missing shot the bug jumped backwards to dodge, and with each second she had to listen to Lord Shin's pained…. screams.

…Why wasn't she hearing anything?

 _ **«"Oi~! We~e lass…"»**_ Mechanically, she turned to look at the direction of the voice, seeing a grim sight that would haunt her nightmare for the rest of her life. The Vercingetorix, the pride and joy of the Knights of St. Michael's, its golden sheen like a beacon of hope to them, a banner of victory to rally behind. But now, all that remained was a battered, beaten, charred and lifeless husk that hung limply from the cord around its neck, swaying back and forth like a twisted version of a wind chime.

 _«"N-No, Lo-Lord Shin…"»_ Jeanne whimpered as she looked on, helpless as she watched the green giant reach behind its shield, withdrawing a short sword that was locking edges on its sides. With a hiss, the sword extended, two beams of energy filling in the gaps on the weapons sides.

 _ **«"You done Gouf-ed."»**_ Jeanne's pained cry tore through the skies as the sword pierced through the cockpit of the Vercingetorix, the sword's tip coated in blood, each drop of blood from the sword hitting Jeanne's psyche like an explosion.

* * *

Retracting his whip, Edgar allowed the dead piece of machinery to slide off of his _"Tempest"_ sword, the remains of the golden Knightmare hitting the ground with a resounding _"thud"_ , he himself slowly landing on the ground, his sword held at his side while the shield was kept in front of himself, almost beckoning Jeanne to charge in, to avenge her savior. However, there was a certain little thing preventing her from doing so.

The Linear Assault Rifle _"Judgement"_ pointed at her cockpit.

 _«"Pilot of the Gracchus, I am Lieutenant Colonel Leila Malcal, and I recommend you surrender and exit your Knightmare."»_ activating up her factsphere, an image from a nearby rooftop appeared on the main screen of Jeanne's cockpit. A young woman, probably no older than she herself was, her pale blonde hair styled in twin pigtails, her eyes brimming with conviction as she stared down at the clearing, the commanding presence of a leader emanating from her.

 _«"If you do surrender, as the Commander of the Wyvern Squad, I promise that you will be treated fairly as a Prisoner of War."»_ Leila stated, keeping her stare leveled at the Britannian machine, even as she and Ayano hid in one the multi-story apartment building's abandoned rooms, Yukiya and Ryo having gone onto the rooftop in an attempt to re-establish contact with everyone back at Castle Weisswolf. Apparently, the small amount of buzzing static they had momentarily heard in their comms wasn't just a fluke, as when she had attempted to contact Anna and Claus for a status update, all she had gotten was static.

Jeanne bit her bottom lip. While her Gracchus wasn't damaged, she was outnumbered, considering that neither the European bug nor the unknown giant had made a move against each other. Not that any of that mattered, as they already had her dead to rights, beam weaponry from the front, including a sword that would cut through her like a hot knife through butter, that is if she could by some miracle dodge the point-blank spray of bullets if she even attempted to fight.

 _«"…I, Jean Rowe of Euro-Britannia's Knights of St. Michael's surrender to the Wyvern Squad, led by Leila Malcal."»_ Jeanne growled, the Gracchus going down to a knee and opening its cockpit, its pilot standing up from her seat, holding her hands above her head in surrender, but her hardened eyes locked straight onto the singular eye of the mechanical giant, her glare making it clear that Edgar would one day pay for taking away the only man she loved, the only man in her life who had looked past her gender, seeing the dutiful soldier inside.

 _«"Merci and I promise you that we'll give your friend a proper burial."»_ Leila promised before turning to address the machine that had brought an end to the battle, which in turn craned its head to look right at her, the young commander pressing on, even with her location revealed.

 _«"And you, the pilot of the green Knightmare, you have talent, talent which could be used to save countless lives. And that is why, I humbly ask you to join us, to help us prevent more innocent lives from being lost to the flames of war."»_ The adopted daughter of the Malcal family hoped that the pilot would see reason and stand down. If he didn't, then he would surely be attacked by the advancing European Units.

And while the Mk2 E2-E8 Panzer Hummels might be, well, "inadequate" when it comes to close combat, they could take down the green giant with a concentrated barrage from their two main cannons, allowing the R&D department at the Clément Factory and the Europia United HQ to mine all the data they could from the wreckage of the machine, the young woman would rather have the pilot and machine join the fight against Euro-Britannia willingly.

 _ **«"...Well, since the fair lady offered so kindly, I'd be a rude twat for declining."»**_ The beams on the sides of the sword fizzled out as Edgar sheathed the collapsible weapon in his shield.

 _ **«"However, I do have a few conditions."**_ He wasn't dumb enough to think that the EU wouldn't tear his Gouf to bloody pieces the first bloody chance they got, as by the standards of this world, and hell, even by his old world's, this Mobile Suit-turned Knightmare frame would be a golden goose to most nations, well, save for possibly Britannia, as they already had flight systems and beam weaponry.

 _«"And those would be?"»_ Leila asked, narrowing her eyes. She was willing to bargain, if it resulted in more lives being spared.

 _ **«"Nothing too absurd. Firstly; my machine, Gouf Verde, will not be taken from me by the EU. Of course, if the mechanics approved by you happen to have loose lips about the stuff they find out during maintenance, that's outside both of our control."»**_ Leila nodded, seeing it as an acceptable, if not a slightly selfish condition.

 _ **«"However, I'm not going to deny your military new tech to research and reverse-engineer, so your leaders can have the remains of the Vercingetorix, or Sagramore as it was known in the developmental phase of its production."»**_ Edgar announced, stepping aside to allow Leila an unobstructed view of the transformable Knightmare's charred remains.

 _ **«"A 7th Generation Knightmare, meant for a Knight of the Rounds, a fine gift to your leaders, wouldn't you agree?"»**_ Edgar asked, all too certain that a captured seventh generation Knightmare would sate the greed of the European military, at least for a good while. But then again, him gifting the machine to military might be like dropping blood into a shark-infested tank, driving them into a feeding frenzy.

Or who knows, maybe after taking a peek at his Gouf, the military bigwigs and eggheads will realize that trying to replicate his machine will be less cost-effective, both in resources and time than simply taking the bleedin' Rounds' and 5th Generation Knightmare that were given to them and attempting to make some proper Knightmares for their regular forces, instead of the glorified one-man tanks they seemed to be oh-so-fond of.

But then again, this was the very same EU that saw fit to treat the 6th Generation Alexanders as kamikaze bombers, even having the utter gall to leave out a bloody ejection seat from the ant-like machines. Honestly, it was no surprise that they'd get conquered by Britannia.

 _«"…Any other conditions?"»_ Although Leila knew that her superiors would be more than pleased with obtaining the mostly-intact Vercingetorix, if she was being completely honest with herself, she was disgusted by the jovial manner in which the pilot phrased his offer, as if this was all a game to him. However, he wouldn't be the first man of questionable nature that she'd have to work with, and he no doubt wouldn't be the last.

 _ **«"Just one, and this one is admittedly more in your favor."»**_ Edgar said, kneeling down to one knee, like a knight before his liege, although the Gouf, even in kneeling position, was only eye-to-eye with the Alexander. _**«"I place myself under your command, and thus, I take my orders only from you, Leila Malcal."»**_ Well, at least up until he got a solid lead on where the Black Knights were holed up.

* * *

 _Among historians researching the war between Euro-Britannia and Europia United, the Battle of Slonim is widely considered to be the battle that broke the ongoing stalemate between the two factions, and they would be correct. Not only did the captured Gracchus and Vercingetorix/Sagramore give the EU's Knightmare factories a functioning template to design new units around, but the data obtained from the machine which would later on be better known as the Green Daemon changing the way the EU would handle their battles._

 _And the man responsible for these advances was none other than Edgar Bennett, a Britannian man whose origins were just as mysterious as his motives. Some would compare him to the then Knight of Seven, Suzaku Kururugi, both men fighting against their own people with nary a hesitation, the two pilots meeting on the battlefield numerous times, the Knight of Massacre and the Soldier of Strife crossing blades numerous times, more than often the Red Devil of the Black Knights participating in the battles._

 _Evidence from conversations held on open channels indicating both men possessing deep hatred for one another._

 _ **A recording of one such conversation:**_

 _«"Stop this meaningless battle RIGHT NOW!"»_

 _ **«"I knew it smelled of betrayal, hypocrisy and foolish idealism in here."»**_

 _ **«"And what's this, no brown on your nose and no tear marks on your knees? Progress."»**_

 _«"Like you're the one to accuse me about betrayal!»_

 _«"When you've betrayed those who gave you a chance to make up for your crimes."»_

 _ **«"hmph, what she still mad about that?"»**_

 _ **«"Honestly, they recruited me from the battlefield, did they honestly expect me to be an obedient pup like you?"»**_

 _«"She cared for you, perhaps even LOVED you! And THEY trusted you!"»_

 _«"And what did you do? You shot them in the back and sided with a man whose only goal is to drag the world into chaos!"»_

 _ **«"Oh-ho, like you're the one to talk, Mr. I-stabbed-my-father-when-he-wouldn't-bend-over-backwards-to-please-your-Britannian-overlords!"»**_

 _«"AT LEAST I STOPPED MORE INNOCENTS FROM DYING!"»_

 _ **«"AHHHAHAHAA, you actually believe the SHITE your spewing?"»**_

 _ **End of recording.**_

 _However, two questions still plague the public even to this day. Where did he and his mysterious Knightmare Frame come from, and why was it called "Gouf"? When asked these questions, the enigmatic man simply smiled, pointed up to the heavens and said, "Where else but space?", only to start laughing off and walking off before our reporters could ask more._

 _However, Mr. Barrett's deeds in the weeks following the Battle of Slonim also brought about negative aftereffects._

* * *

 **AN: Aaand that's all folks, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of _"Code Geass: Divergent Strife"_ , and I do mean _First_ , as I'm currently writing chapter 2, intending on keeping this thing going. And, yeah, I honestly have no real plot planned for the MHA fic, but I do for this, as evident by my _"A Cold Calculus"_ -esque end text.**

 **So... thoughts?**

 **Oh, and I didn't pull out the stuff I said about the Vercingetorix out of my ass, it really was designed for a Knight of the Round table, Michele** _(Yes, that's his first name)_ **Manfredi, and while I was originally _very_ confused by the four-legged design, I soon after realized that it was meant for more uneven ground, where the usual Landspinner system of the Knightmares would be hampered.**

 **But that doesn't mean that it looks _really_ stupid, what with the gold coloration covering about 90% of the damn thing, and the freakin' Mohawk.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Yosh, we got a good haul in the previous chapter, thank you so much folks! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.**

* * *

 **Also, in case any of you are interested, I have this little Code Geass RP forum called "Irregularity Code" going on, and the basic premise is that 5 Off-Worlders** _(People from our world)_ **get thrown into the world of Code Geass, some getting put into bodies of off-screen characters, some getting OC Bodies, and some getting dropped in as themselves.**

 **And well, an Off-Worlder spot just opened up, and we _do_ need more players anyway, so I hope you'll join up.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _'Thought'_

 _ **[System Message]**_

 _«"Friendly/Neutral comm_ _"»_

 ** _«"Enemy KMF Open comm_ _"»_**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.**

* * *

"Man that thing looks unsettling." Ryo muttered, looking at the Gouf as he sat on the open back of a transport truck carrying his Alexander unit, well, the remains of it anyway. With the loss of their leader, the Knights of St. Michael had started retreating, or at least that's what the small garrison of vehicles sent to pick the Wyvern Squad had told them.

"I'm more surprised that it hasn't run out of power yet." Ayano replied as she looked at the green Knightmare keeping up the pace with the vehicles with the Landspinners that folded out from the back of its legs.

"It's not like we could leave it there, and there wasn't any room for it." Yukiya shrugged, more interested in the effect it had on the long-range radio, which had cleared right up when it deactivated its wings. Although, there was still a small, neglectable amount of static in long-range radio.

"Hey Boss, how's the unit handling?" Ayano asked, opening a line to the captured Gracchus.

 _«"I'm good Ayano, the controls are surprisingly similar to an Alexander's."»_ Leila responded from within the captured Gracchus. _«"How's the status of your unit's power supply Mr. Barrett?"»_ She asked, looking over to the at the towering machine.

A small screen opened up on the upper right corner of the center screen of the Gracchus' cockpit. The screen showed a young man, not much older than Leila or her troops, at most only by two years, black hair hidden underneath red beanie, eyes hidden by the light reflecting off from circular glasses the pilot wore. _«"Still fresh."»_ the young man, Edgar reported, before a lopsided grin spread onto his face. _«"And please, don't call me Mr., I'm a spry young lad, not a saggy ol' geezer."»_

"So where the hell did you and that machine of yours come from anyway?" Ryo asked, tapping into the comm line his earpiece was still connected to.

Edgar paused, scratching his goatee as he considered how to answer the Japanese teen's question. His memories of Code Geass' geography, both political and actual map-wise were spotty at best, not that he was good with Geography anyway, but he'd rather not accidentally point to place that couldn't really house life, let alone build a state of the art mech in secret.

Ah, fuck it, he'd borrow shite from _"Eyes in SEED"_ , altered to fit his needs.

 _«"Well lad, ever heard of a group called Wings of Talleyrand?"»_ Edgar asked, fishing for some info about this world at the same time. Sure, he figured that the Black Rebellion had already happened, but what about _other_ events, ones that if they never happened wouldn't cause big enough of a change?

He couldn't afford to be blind-sided by the sudden appearance of the Glinda Knights, or some other _"Non-Canon"_ element just as he was about to accomplish an important task, like crushing that Hypocritical dog under the heel of his Gouf, and taking Lelouch away from Britannian forces.

 _«"You mean the ones responsible for bombing Pendragon?"»_ Leila asked. While the Anti-Britannian lead by Wilbur Millville might not have been public for long, they certainly made their presence known to the world. _"If Britannians themselves were ready to rebel against their oppressive Emperor, then didn't that make the fight against Britannia a just and noble one?"_ was a thought that came onto the minds of multiple people across the globe, no doubt even among some Britannians.

 _«"Aye, those chums. Ya see, the branch I was in were responsible for building the Gouf, in case the main branch fell."»_ An easy way to explain away the advanced tech, make them think that the Gouf was built from tech stolen from Britannia, the ever-advancing titan in the field of KMF Development.

 _«"But the brits found us, I was told to take the Gouf and ship my sorry ass out before the base's fail-safe, a big-arse bomb, activated."»_ And of course, an excuse as to why he appeared alone, intended to tug on those heartstrings of their humanity, possibly eliciting some feelings of sympathy.

"Alright, so how did you get here then?" Ayano asked, now interested in the tale their new… _"Teammate"_? Associate, yeah, associate was telling.

 _«"I dunno, was just passing by something the history buff of our crew called a "Thought Elevator", don't what it was, but the symbol on it started glowing, couldn't see for shit, and bam, I'm falling towards a city."»_ And as a last touch, a sense of mysticism to drive those willing to investigate towards the truth.

"Well that's fuckin' informative." Ryo scoffed, laying his back against the arm of his Alexander unit, deciding to catch some Zs.

"…" Akito said nothing as he sat in front of his Alexander's remains, looking at the body bag in front of him.

* * *

 **[-4 hours later, Warsaw, EU Army post-]**

The sun had fallen by the time the retreating soldiers arrived at Warsaw's army post, and although the guards at the front gate had given them a few odd stares, well, not them exactly, but still, people had been staring, scant few even with their jaws hanging wide open as they saw the Gouf rolling past them.

However, as the 8-car envoy passed the front gate, they were met by a small welcoming party, composed of 9 men, all but one of them holding assault rifles in their arms, ready to open fire if need be.

"Yo boss, seems like we have a problem." Yukiya noted. While he might've not been a real soldier, well, at least not for more than a little over a month, he could tell when people were high-strung and prone to lashing out, even ignoring the aching from his left hand.

"Is there a problem?" Leila questioned as she exited the Gracchus. In response, the man in the middle, dressed in the common EU uniform, the dark shade of the blue, along with the peaked cap and medals singling him out as the leader of the assembled men.

The man adjusted his peaked cap, looking down to meet Leila in the eyes. "In a manner of speaking…" he answered before clearing his throat.

"I am Commandant Hans Blum, in charge of this Army post's security." the blonde-haired man introduced himself, his blue eyes cast in shadows by the peaked cap on his head. "And I ask that the pilot of that Knightmare Frame," he pointed to the Gouf. "Exits it immediately, and follows us to answer a couple of questions we have."

"Commandant, Mr. Barrett is one of my recruits, so if you have questions to him, I demand to be present there when they are asked."

"And that will be allowed, Lieutenant Colonel Malcal, but he is not an European soldier, so he will have to be detained and thoroughly questioned." Blum explained.

"And of course, the captured Britannian soldier will have to be moved to the brig until they can be moved to a proper facility." the Commandant added, glancing at the cuffed Jeanne, who was now being lead out the back of one of the armored vehicles.

"If you'd please get in contact with General Smilas at the Paris HQ, I'm sure that we could solve this matter without resolving to any violent means." Leila requested,

"…Very well, but they'll have to be detained until we are ordered otherwise." The German Commandant finally said. Many high-ranking officers had heard of the oh-so famous W-0 unit, and their use of Eleven pilots, himself included. Personally, he had no quarrel with the people of former Japan, but he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't okay with them being dropped behind enemy lines instead of his fellow Europeans.

However, it was those same people who had won the battle for them today, allowing his soldiers to retreat, and so, he'd at least hear out their commander's request.

 _«"Alright then, I'm coming out." »_ Edgar said as he made the Gouf kneel, so that he'd have an easier time exiting.

' _Alright, now to lock this baby up.'_ Edward thought, activating the safe lock-feature of exiting that he had found during the trip back while experimenting around with the systems of the Gouf, the computer shutting down as he took out the USB-like activation key and slid it into his boot before the cockpit seat started moving.

The cockpit on the giant's back hissed open, popping open like a treasure chest as the piloting chair slid out, Edgar sitting in it with his hands raised up in surrender. Suffice to say, his rather plain, if not casual appearance struck a rather weird dissonance with the imposing and threatening look of his machine.

"A civilian?" Blum gasped in surprise as he looked at the young man descending from the cockpit, holding onto the cord extending from the cockpit for dear life, his left foot on the orange grip to provide stability.

"Aye, I'm not a soldier." Edgar nodded, thankful that they were speaking in English, instead of something like French or German, as that could've led to some serious misunderstanding.

As he got both of his feet onto solid ground, making sure not to put too much pressure onto his left foot, he pressed a button on the handle that was marked with a white upwards pointing arrow, letting go as the line retracted back up to the cockpit, the seat retracting back into the cockpit, the lid closing with a hiss.

Two of the soldiers who came with Commandant Blum moved forward, taking a pair of handcuffs from their belts, presenting them towards Edgar and Jeanne, both allowing their hands to be cuffed, or as was the case with Jeanne, her cuffs to be linked to a chain, the petite red-haired knight growling at the European soldiers a little, making her displeasure known.

"Oh-ho~, so ya got a kink for chains, eh?" Edgar grinned, deciding to make fun of the petite knight, who responded with a glare of such intensity that if looks could kill, Edgar would be little more than ashes by this point.

"Mr. Barrett, if you'd please stop antagonizing Ms. Rowe." Leila said, frowning at her newest recruit's actions.

Edgar simply nodded, giving a relaxed two-finger salute as he followed the soldiers, only to halt as he passed the Commandant.

"Oh right, a word of warning to your soldiers." Edgar snapped his fingers, turning to look at Blum. "The Gouf has an anti-theft mechanism, a bomb strong enough to destroy it and everything about 10-20 Meters from it."

"So, y'know, ya might want to post a few guards around it." Edgar said, a small smirk on his face as he watched the frizzled commander, still pale like a ghost, direct his equally pale soldiers to not let anyone get near the kneeling green giant.

* * *

After the two were lead to one of the metal containers in the former sports arena that now served as temporary housing for soldiers, which upon opening only had the essentials for a brig. Walls made from interlocking steel bars segregating the 6 spartan cells from each other, 3 cells on each side of the metal container.

"In you go, separate cells." one of two soldiers ordered, Edgar going to the brig closest to the door on the right side, while Jeanne entered the one on the left side, the soldiers detaching the chain form her cuffs before locking the rather sturdy-looking metal doors to their cells, the locks closing with an imposing _'THUNK'_ that resonated throughout the small facility..

"Behave and we won't have problems." the soldier from before said, before he and his comrade exited the room, although Edgar could tell that if either of them attempted busting out, the guards would hear them.

Although judging by the fact that they hadn't bothered to do a body check on either one of them, maybe they were underestimating them, or just confident that Jeanne would be smart enough not to attempt causing trouble when she was in an enemy camp, surrounded by people who wouldn't hesitate to fire if she tried to escape.

"So Jeanne, can I call you Jeanne? Anyway, about what you asked me on the battlefield." Edgar said, prompting the captured Britannian Knight to stop trying to burn a hole into the ground with her glare and look at him.

"Hmph, what, do you finally see the error of your ways now that you're locked up by these European fools?" Jeanne scoffed,

Edgar sighed, leaning his back against the barrack's metal wall. "Nah, not exactly." He had gotten a look at the Gouf's encoding while he was piloting it, and yeeaah… he doubted that the EU forces would be able to hack it, assuming they decided to call his bomb bluff.

"I was just going to share my reasons for why I fight against Britannia." he said, not really planning on Jeanne to be impressed or impacted by his reasons. He was just shooting the shit, killing time while Leila chatted with the ambitious General.

"See, Britannia's goal is, to be perfectly blunt about it, the subjugation and conquering everything that isn't Britannia, yeah?"

"…" Jeanne didn't refute Edgar's point. While yes, Lord Augustus did treat the conquered countries with respect, she knew that the homeland did no such thing, stripping the people they conquered of their identity, replacing it with a dehumanizing number. But that was the right of the strong, right?

"Well, my point is, that's idiotic as all fuck." Edgar bluntly said. "Not to mention amoral, but hey, that's Darwinism for ya." Survival of the fittest isn't pretty, but it's what got humanity to the point where they became the most advanced species on earth. "Britannia invades other nations, subjugates the natives, and then begin their spiel about how they're the strongest nation."

"And while there's nothing wrong with boasting, the problem comes when you're being a self-serving hypocrite."

"You mean the nobility?" Jeanne asked. While she mainly stuck to battlefields, she had met her fair share of nobility from the House of Lords, and from what she saw, a vast majority of them were little more than greedy, arrogant and slothful fools who only sought to reclaim the lands their ancestors had lost, the Knightly Orders of Euro-Britannia being their work-horses to accomplish that task.

"Yes, the arrogant nobility who claim that they are truly powerful, when in truth, all they have is powerful soldiers, or status they didn't earn with their own two hands, sitting back as the road to the top was paved clean for them." Edgar monologued, mainly thinking of Charles, who had simply let his allies slaughter the rest of his family to ascend to his throne, but Nunnally was also one such individual, her dear brother becoming, well, the Atlas carrying all the world's hate on his back, not that such a foolish plan would work for more than a few years, a thought supported by the trailers to the Sequel show.

"So you fight for revenge? But why fight for the EU, when you would've climbed up the ranks with your machine?"

"Revenge, no, not exactly…" After all, the nobility of this world hadn't done anything to him, at least not yet. But that was no doubt bound to change.

"But as for why I didn't take the path you just described, it'd do nothing, as my, well, _"target"_ is much, _much_ higher up the food chain." Truly, how could a target get any bigger than an Emperor, who not only controlled about a third or so of the planet, but also had an immortal brat, an army of not only regular soldiers, but assassins who had supernatural powers, aiming to kill a thing he considered _"God"_?

"Y-You seek to kill the Emperor?!" Jeanne gasped, standing up from her bed, the chain of her cuffs clinking at the sudden motion.

"For starters." Edgar knew full well that the death of one man wouldn't stop the War Machine that is Britannia. His death would just be the drop of blood necessary to drive the blood-thirsty sharks of the Imperial Court into a frenzy, those fat maggots coalescing to their backers, and of course, there was only one man in the royal Family who would realistically end up on the throne.

Schneizel El Britannia, the man whose sick, if not realistic views of humanity drove him to build Damocles, using it to frighten the world into peace, well, at least until his two-faced ass croaked, re-kindling the flames of conflict, but this time, the wars fought would be over the floating nuke launcher hanging in the sky, of course assuming that Schneizel didn't pick an heir who would carry on his legacy.

* * *

 **[With Leila and Commandant Blum…]**

 _«"Ah, Leila, Commandant Blum, how may I help you?"»_ the German Commandant was taken back by the casual manner in which the French General referred to the young officer, but he didn't let it show on his face.

"I'm here to report the success of the operation, and to ask you to recognize a new recruit of my Wyvern Squad." Leila said, saluting her superior officer.

A small smile spread onto the General's bearded face. _«"Oh Leila, you've adopted yet another stray into your family?"»_ He asked in an amused, faux- tone. He hoped that least this one didn't kill European forces in an attempt to kidnap high-ranking officers.

Leila ignored the comment, and stifled chuckles coming from Blum. "Yes, and he came to our aid with an unknown Knightmare."

 _«"An unknown Knightmare you say?"»_ Smilas raised a brow in an inquisitive manner, wondering which group that Knightmare was from. Despite Britannia's best efforts, more than a few Mercenary and Anti-Britannian groups were able to procure and develop their own Knightmare Frames, namely Peace Mark, the Wings of Talleyrand, and of course, the infamous Black Knights.

"Yes, a Knightmare unlike any we've seen before, equipped with beam weaponry and an integrated Float System."

 _«"Well then, I'm sure that Professor Schenberg will be quite pleased with the chance of looking it over."»_ The general took note of how the two officers flinched at his words. _«"I take it there's a problem?"»_ he asked. Had the Knightmare been destroyed in battle?

"Not exactly, it's just that a part of my agreement with Mr. Barrett was that his machine is not to be taken in by the EU." Leila explained. "However, he hasn't forbidden my technicians from reporting what they discovered."

 _«"I see, so while we may attempt reverse-engineering his Knightmare, we can't simply look at the cheat sheet?"»_

"Yes. And furthermore, it is thanks to him that we were able to obtain a 5th Generation Knightmare Gracchus, fully intact, and a mostly intact 7th Generation Knightmare Vercingetorix." This time, Smilas' astonishment was on full display, his eyes wide and his mouth a thin line.

 _«"T-The Vercingetorix?"»_ He defeated _that_ beast? Ever since it had appeared a little under a year ago, the Knights of St. Michael had gone from a rather easily repelled foe to one that trounced their forces on more accounts than the council were comfortable with sharing to the public.

"Indeed General, and from what me and my men could see, while the cockpit was pierced, it seems like only the pilot seat was damaged, so we should be able to access its OS." Blum said, all too glad that the beast that had taken the lives of many a soldier from him was vanquished. The only thing regretted was that he wasn't there to see it, or been able to do it himself.

 _«"I see. Well then, I'll arrange the transport for the Britannian units."»_ Britannia was bound to become more aggressive with the loss of such a powerful unit and pilot, so they couldn't afford to drag their feet. They'd have to get those Knightmares into the Clement factory ASAP so they could begin supplementing their Panzer-Hummels with new units that could match the Britannian Sutherlands and Gloucesters in CQC.

"I will go and order my men to prep them to be loaded to the transport." Blum stepped forward, understanding Gen. Smilas' intentions, and the German fully agreed with them, knowing full-well that while their Panzer-Hummels could keep Britannian forces at bay with proper emplacements and coordinated fire, the Britannians were already developing Knightmares and other weapons that'd make short work of such tactics, not to mention that any Sutherland capable of getting close to a Panzer-Hummel could decimate it, due to the lack of any proper CQC features in them.

 _«"Europia United thanks you, Commandant."»_ Smilas dismissed him with a salute. the Commandant responding in kind before exiting the comm room.

Smilas looked back to Leila. _«"So then, about the pilot, you truly plan to recruit him?"»_ The general asked, mostly to confirmation's sake.

Leila nodded. "Yes. He managed to defeat a Grand Master of a Knightly order, his skills, not to mention his suit would be of great use to my squad," Although from what she had observed, Mr. Barrett wasn't quite used to his unit, staying out of melee range, despite his Knightmare being more suited to close-range combat with its sword, only using his beam guns and whips. He seemed to be more suited for a unit that specialized in long range combat.

She should have Anna and her team try and adapt the Gouf's beam technology into a weapon with more range, as she had noted that the range at where the Gouf's beam guns were accurate wasn't all that long, but until then, the Gouf would be equipped with a rifle like the one outfitted to W.O Naruse's Alexander.

«"I see, anything else."»

"He claimed to be an Ex-Wings of Talleyrand member." Leila said, knowing that having Gen. Smilas being aware of this would be for the best. It'd be better if the regular army wouldn't be caught unawares if they met the Gouf after a potential defection. She certainly didn't want that to happen, but she'd rather prepare for the possibility than be blindsided by it, especially if said defection would result in her squad and friends getting hurt.

 _«"You think he is lying?"»_

Leila shook her head. "No, not exactly," After all, as a member of an underground Terrorist group, it'd only be natural for him to be able to exude a civilian presence, but she couldn't help but feel like something was off about the way he acted. Him being linked to the Britannian terrorist group would certainly explain his knowledge of the Vercingetorix.

"More like that he hasn't told everything he knows." Leila finally said. Not that she could blame him for keeping secrets. He possibly assumed that if he gave the EU even an inch, they'd take him and his unit and pump both the man and machine for all the knowledge they could before throwing him aside, and as much as she didn't want it to be so, such assumptions weren't exactly incorrect.

The more corporate-minded members of the Council would certainly call for the oddly-named Knightmare Frame to be handed over to be dissected, reverse-engineered and mass-produced, with or without the pilot's consent.

* * *

 **[Back in the brig]**

"So then, Jeanne, why do you fight for Britannia?" Edgar asked, truly curious about why your average Britannian soldiers fought for an Empire that endorsed Social Darwinism like it was the hottest thing since sliced toast. Perhaps due to a simple loyalty to your homeland? Honor? Prestige? The sheer thrill of piloting a mecha? Or perhaps to drown out that little voice of inferiority in the back of their head saying; _"We're not better than them!"_ with the blood of those they fought?

"Why do you care? You've already thrown your lot in with the Europeans." Jeanne growled back. She knew all too well that the moment that blondie and her team left, there'd be nothing but a cold, hard confinement cell, slob that hardly passed as food, with the occasional interrogation session in her future, well, that is if she didn't have a little _"accidents"_ on her way to the place where the EU held their POWs.

Edgar sighed at the retort. Yeah, yeah, she got caught by her enemy and was no doubt going to be pumped for info the moment she was out of the W-0's sight, but did she have to be such a bitch about just chatting. Hell, he was quite doubtful that the EU would even bother interrogating her, assuming they decided that the Geneve conven-actually, do they have anything of the sort in this world?

"Humor me. Who knows, your heart-wrenching tale might re-awaken some long-lost national pride or some crap." Edgar's sarcastic drawl only served to annoy his captive roommate, who was forced to settle to just glaring at him.

"…Hmph." Jeanne scoffed, turning her back to Edgar.

"Ah c'mon, lass, that's no fun…or is it that you know that there is no truly just reason to fight for Britannia?" Edgar inquired, a smug smile on his lips as he watched the smaller Britannian soldier tense her shoulders at his question, but he couldn't tell whether she knew it to be true, or if she was just mad at his accusation.

"But then again, I suppose that for some people, just fighting for their country is enough, and ta be honest, I can respect such simplicity." Edgar chuckled as he sat up from the bed, leaning against the bars. This was sure to get the wee lass reacting.

"And hell, I can even respect Shaing's ambition, despite how fucked up it is, what with the indiscriminate killing…" Edgar said, purposefully keeping that last part just quiet enough for Jeanne to be able to hear it, but making it seem like he was trying to not let her hear it.

Truly, the world was a cruel place, so he could, to some extent, understand a desire to set such a world into a killing frenzy. After all, it was ultimately humans and their desires that birthed conflicts, whether it be due to sheer Greed, Envy, Wrath or Pride, or a simple difference in ideologies or religions, people would fight sooner or later, and when one party was dead, their loved ones would eventually strike at their killers, and then vice versa, until no one was left, or the two groups formed a mutual peace treaty, albeit temporary.

The speed at which Jeanne turned around at the mention of her late lord and target of affections gave Edgar pause as she grasped the bars, pushing her face up against the bars, sheer venom and vitriol in her glare.

However, just as she was about to respond, the main door opened, revealing Leila and one of the two soldiers who had escorted them.

"So then, I take it that the chat went well?" Edgar asked with a relaxed expression on his face, as if nothing was wrong.

Leila nodded as the guard opened his cell and took out a key. "The General was very understanding, and your machine will not be taken away from you," And although it wasn't said, both the young Lieutenant Colonel and the new recruit knew that orders demanding all information about the mysterious machine that the Wyvern Squad was able to uncover was to be passed along to the General, and from him to the correct groups who would work on reverse-engineering it.

"That's good to hear." Edgar said as he stepped out of his cell, rubbing his wrists to alleviate the aching.

"Indeed. And your ID Tag is done, although it's only a bare-bones one, so we need you to fill it out." Leila said, handing a small, dogtag-like device to Edgar, who graciously accepted it, putting it on and letting the tag hang loosely by its chains.

"But regardless, welcome to the Wyvern Squad, Warrant Officer Edgar Barrett." Leila smiled offering her hand towards Edgar, who smiled and shook it.

"Thank you, Commander, I'll do my best not to disappoint you." he said, before turning to look at Jeanne, who was still glaring at him. "Well then, our chat was fun, but I have business elsewhere, so… ciao." He said, following Leila out of the brig as he ignored Jeanne's shouts of _"Wait!"_ and some curse words thrown his way.

"What exactly did you and Ms. Rowe talk about?" Leila questioned,

Edgar blinked, a reticent smile forming on his face as he sheepishly scratched his head, pocketing his beanie. "Well, I might've pissed her off a wee bit when I explained why I fight against Britannia." he answered, his eyes hidden by the light hitting the dark lenses.

"And sorry ma'am, but I need to go check on my machine, y'know, to make sure no one messed with it." Edgar said, bowing respectfully to Leila before he started walking back towards the direction of where he had left his machine.

However, as he walked away, Leila narrowed her eyes at the retreating form of her new Warrant Officer, before she turned around.

* * *

 **AN: So then, how was the chapter? I admit, this was kind of a filler-esque chapter.**

 **Also, just to make it clear, I'm not dropping Quincy DxD, I'm just taking a small break from it.**

 **Oh, and I'm also in need of someone who knows the story of Oz of The Reflection damn well, as the wiki had jack-shit on the personalities of a few characters.**

* * *

 **Questions of the chapter:**

 **Q1:** If you had to choose from either **A: [Advanced GN-X]** or **B: [GN-XII Cannon]** , both equipped with a proper GN Drive, albeit lacking a Trans-AM system, which one would you choose to pilot?

 **Q2:** And what Gundam show would you want me to write an SI fic about, with the SI piloting the Mobile Suit you picked in the previous question.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry it took so long to make this, I had a lot of writer's blocks, and there was some formatting issue on my Beta's part, along with some RL stuff.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _'Thought'_

 _ **[System Message]**_

 _«"Friendly/Neutral comm_ _"»_

 ** _«"Enemy KMF Open comm_ _"»_**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.**

* * *

 **[-St. Petersburg, Knights of St. Michael's HQ…-]**

"Kuzan, how is Master Ashley doing?" A mountain of a man with a short crop of light brown hair on his head asked as he approached his comrade, who was standing across from a double-sided door.

"Still shaken up by the deaths of Lord Shaing and Johanne, I'm afraid." the rather effeminate-looking bald man replied, before looking down somberly. The other man was more… _"volatile"_ with how he handled his grief, punching the stone wall with all his might.

"Damn those Ghosts of Hannibal!" the man roared, frustrated by not only his inability to take out even one of the human-piloted machines, but also by how he hadn't been able to save the second youngest of their squad.

"Calm down Franz, breaking your hand won't bring poor Johanne back, bless his soul…" Kuzan sighed, wondering if this situation could get any worse. Not only had they lost a teammate, but their leader had also locked himself to his chambers, screaming his lungs out, if the noise he had heard was any indication. Not to mention the new Military Advisor that had arrived on the Emperor's personal train, and if what he had heard through the grapevine was accurate, they wouldn't even get the chance to avenge the losses of Johanne, Lord Shin and Lady Jean.

"Kuzan, Franz, is Lord Ashley awake?" Turning towards the source of the voice, the two knights were able to see a young man with fair features, including black wavy hair and purple eyes, and if Kuzan was to be perfectly frank, Simon would look quite stunning in a dress, although he did look like quite the dashing knight in his uniform.

Saving his mental observations for later, Kuzan answered Simon's question. "Yes, but I'm afraid he's still…" the trio flinched as they heard a chair being thrown and shot six times, each shot accompanied by a ferocious roar of _"DAMMIT!"_. "Quite _"sore"_ , although I thought he had already trashed the chair." Although, on second thought, that might've been a footstool.

Well, then again, Lord Ashley's personal chambers _were_ due for a re-design, so at least he wasn't destroying something that was going to be missed.

"Well, try to get him to calm down, Lord Shin's mother and sister are requesting an audience with him." Simon reported, the faces of his brothers in arms paling slightly, an audible _"Gulp"_ coming from Franz, while Kuzan's eyes widened to the sizes of oranges, before he took in a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Try to slow them down, Franz, fetch the bullet-proo-" Kuzan stopped as the two thick wooden doors were swung wide open, a young man with an untamed man of orange hair, dressed in a fine white and gold-accented red jacket and black pants slowly shambling through the doorway, before his head slowly turned towards the three Knights who kept quiet with baited breath, as the orange-haired man's red eyes, carrying in them not a glint of confidence or anger, but the shadows of regret and despair locked onto them.

"…I'll meet 'em in the main chamber. No matter, do _NOT_ interfere." Was all Ashley said, before walking off with heavy, but resolute steps, leaving Kuzan, Franz and Simon standing there.

* * *

 **[Warsaw, Military Airport, Landing area...]**

 _'Y'know, it's time like these that I hope that I had gotten a smaller mech.'_ Edgar thought as he parked the Gouf inside the aircraft carrier lent to the W-0 to carry their units, the Gouf situated at the very end of the cargo hold, sitting on the cold metal floor, leaning the machine slightly forward.

Exiting the cockpit, Edgar, now dressed in the same sharp EU dress uniform, consisting of a gold and red-accented navy blue single-breasted jacket over a white dress shirt, pants of the same color tucked into black boots that stop just short of the knees, his tie tied in a rather sloppy and inexperienced manner, walked out of the cargo hold, letting the regular soldiers do their job, strapping the Gouf in tight, and loading in the containers that held the mostly intact Alexander units, called Type 0-2s, if he remembered it right.

' _I just hope that they'll get better upgrades.'_ Adjusting his glasses, Edgar entered the passenger area, where he saw his… well, comrades strapping in. Ryu, Yukiya and Ayano, who was certainly making the military uniform look damn good, situated in the front row seats, Yukiya and Ryo sitting on the left side of the cabin, with Ayano on the right, Leila and Akito in the two seats behind Ayano.

"The Gouf and Type 0-2s are loaded in, Commander." he reported, saluting her, this time with a bit more professionalism, if only to sell the loyal soldier image, which would be a necessary pain in the arse to deal with.

"That's good." Leila nodded, Edgar nodding in response as he moved to the row of seats behind Ryo and Yukiya, and sat down in the seat closest to the window, setting his duffel bag at his feet.

 _ **«"This is your Pilot, Gaston Polnareff. We're about to take off, so fasten your seat belts until we give the A-OK."»**_

'… _What?'_ Edgar blinked as he heard the pilot's name, and _**thicc**_ French accent, but ignored it as he followed the instructions and strapped in. He just hoped that their co-pilot's last name wasn't Joestar, Kujo or anything even close to that family.

He'd rather not deal with a plane crash.

* * *

 **[-St. Petersburg, Knights of St. Michael's HQ…-]**

"Lord Ashley will see you now, miladies" The sturdy oak doors were opened, allowing the young girl wearing a dark red dress, her blond hair set in twin tails to pass, her mother, wearing a pale blue dress, following right behind her, their heels clacking in rhythm against the red carpet covering the stone floor.

 _'So then, this is Big Brother's subordinate...'_ the young lady, Alice Shaing thought as she looked at the figure sitting at the throne at the end, his head hung low, shoulders shaking, and hands clasped together, as if in prayer, or anxiousness.

"Sir Ashley, is it true that my son was _ by the European pilot known as _"The Ghost of Hannibal"_?" Alice's mother, Maria stepped forward,

"…I …I'm afraid I cannot say for certain milady." Ashely answered. While that damn Angel of Death controlling that red-faced Knightmare certainly had the skills to match Lord Shin, his machine had been dismembered, and the rest of his squad had taken out the other Knightmares, after they just mysteriously stopped their well-coordinated rampage.

But then again, was the machine he faced piloted by the so-called _"Ghost of Hannibal"_ , or someone else?

Both Shaing women narrowed their eyes at Ashley's answer. Maria pressed on this issue. "What do you mean you're not certain? Weren't the G-1's censors active?" While she wasn't as knowledgeable with the functions and limits of military technology as her dear friend Manfredi or her son, she did know that the G-1 had long-range sensors, meant to keep track of friendly and enemy units, using some hardware that she wasn't aware of.

"I don't know what caused it, but for some reason, the G-1 lost all signals in and around Slonim, and they weren't able to contact me until the Europeans had already taken the city." Ashley explained, mentally beating himself up for not checking his bloody radar. Perhaps if he had done so, then maybe he could've turned back and tried saving them.

Alice's eyes snapped wide as she stepped forward. "So you just left my brother there to die!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Ashley, who made no visible reaction to the accusation, his face still lowered in shame.

"Alice!" Maria said with a scolding tone, knowing that the orange-haired Knight wouldn't have done such a treacherous thing. The way the young Knight had acted around her adopted son reminded her of a young puppy following behind its loving master, similar to how her late husband had acted with Manfredi.

"No, Lady Maria, s-she is right." Ashley responded, his voice wavering as he rose from his throne. "I should have stayed by his side, ensured that he made it back to us." he continued, walking up to Lady Alice. "Should've hanged his orders to retreat, backed him and Jean up, instead of leaving them both behind!" he shouted, fists clenched and tears bubbling up at the corners of his eyes as he poured out his heart.

However, before either of the nobles could respond, the orange-haired Knight dried his eyes, and dropped down to a knee before he drew his weapon, but surprisingly, he turned it around in his hand, offering the handle towards the young lady as he looked at her, his face showing nothing but conviction, while his eyes showed grief and regret.

"And so, Lady Alice, I offer my life and loyalty as reparations for failing to protect Lord Shin."

* * *

 **[EU Military Cargo plane...]**

"So uhh… what're you drawing?" Ayano asked, attempting to break the ice with the Britannian she'd be working with. Admittedly, she didn't remember what life was like in Japan, but she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't pissed off at the Britannians that had caused her family to leave Japan and be placed in the dirty ghettos, so she was a bit uncertain about the new guy.

But hey, he had also saved Akito, and them from that Knightmare that tore Akito's Knightmare apart, so he couldn't be all that bad, right?

"Weapons for Knightmare Frames." Edgar replied absentmindedly, his glasses having slipped down his nose. The E-Brits had the superior Grunt mech, as the blithering numpties refused to use the more advanced Alexanders, so the E.U military would need better weapons, at least until they finally took their heads out of their own asses and rolled out a Knightmare that wasn't just a mobile turret.

"Oh, so you're an engineer?" Ayano guessed.

"Not exactly." Edgar answered, brushing off the eraser dust that had accumulated.

"Well, while I'm not an engineer, schematic and blueprints-wise, I do have a knack for making weapon designs." he explained, retracting the mechanical pen's tip, as he'd rather not have the lead staining the pocket of his uniform.

"This is what I call a _"Beam Katana"_." Edgar said, showing a sketch of what seemed like a wakizashi to Ayano, albeit completely straight, with a big gap within its blade, along with other sketches, detailing the blade folding into the handle, or extending to a bigger length.

"Essentially, it's a single-edged version of my Gouf's Tempest Beam Sword, one that the Alexander's Yggdrasil Drive should be able to handle." he explained, figuring that if a 5th Generation Gloucester could use a Blaze Luminous shield, after flying with the gluttonous Float System, the next-gen Alexander should be able to handle a weapon that doesn't need to use some sci-fi mumbo-jumbo to constrain the solid energy, just emit it in a straight line to a receiver.

Rising from his seat, he reached over towards Leila. "How quickly do you think your tech team can adapt Gouf's tech?" he asked, handing the notebook over. Considering how their tech-bunnies had managed to add a freakin' Blaze Luminous shield onto the Alexander Liberte, which in itself was a last-minute upgrade, Edgar had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't take them long, but still, better to ask than assume.

Accepting the notebook, Leila looked over the sketches, noting how Edgar had designed a weapon for not only Ayano, but the rest of the squad, although the weapons designed to replace the _"Judgement"_ Linear Rifles, and Yukiya's sniper rifle would take a long while to create, well, depending on how quickly Anna and her team managed to reverse-engineer the Gouf's.

"While I appreciate this, is there a particular reason why you've proposed weapons of this sort?" Leila asked with a level face and a firm tone, handing the notebook back.

"Well Commander, the fact is, not only is the E.U as whole going to need better Knightmares, but we're also going to need better weapons." Edgar stated bluntly as he sat back down. Oh sure, the Alexander might be the superior Knightmare to Sutherlands and Gloucesters, but just like the CB-Gundams, throwing enough forces would be enough to overwhelm the Alexanders, especially if-no, _when_ a 7th-gen KMF was sent out, and if the Vercingetorix was able to just flat-out curb-stomp Akito's Alexander, not to mention the problems the Alexander Valiants had against the Ahuramazda, then the W-0 units need much more advanced weaponry to stand a chance.

And hell, that was without Lelouch directing the E-Brit forces.

"Especially since the Euro-Brits got themselves a new Military Advisor, one Julius Kingsley." Edgar added.

"Julius Kingsley? What do you know about him?" Leila asked

"Well, basically think of him as Zero, if he were the Emperor's lapdog." Edgar began his explanation, pushing his glasses up, hiding his eyes from view as he leaned onto his seat. "He's a slimy bastard, and well, while I can't say I ever talked to the git, his plan for taking down the EU will most likely be stirring the citizens into a frenzy, using terror tactics."

"For example, he could cause a black-out, possibly by utilizing a small group of soldiers that had been pre-planted into EU territory, possibly moles in the military," A certain drunk W-0 officer came to Edgar's mind. "and after everyone realizes that it ain't a regular black-out, he'd release a video explaining his goals, possibly framing it as a message from a so-called _"anti-nobility"_ group, including a faked video of bombing a main power plant." he explained, drawing on what he saw in the OVA.

"There's no way that some fake video would cause a panic. How the hell do you even _fake_ a bombing?" Ryo questioned. Sure, from what he had seen, the Europeans weren't exactly the brightest bunch, but how god-damn stupid would they have to be in order for them to be fooled by a video?

"You'd be surprised what can be faked with good enough 3D animation." Edgar countered, admittedly a bit amused by the fact that despite all the military might of the Holy Britannian Empire had at their disposal, it was an expertly made and rendered CGI explosion that caused the biggest amount of known damage, causing civilians to riot in the streets, calling for the blood of the nobles to be spilled, in blind fear that if they did rise up against their government, bringing back the head-chopping from the _"Reign of Terror"_ era, they'd be saved, spared from what would've in those times been called _"The Wrath of God"_ by everyone, the local priests no doubt detaching little Timmy from their crotches to beg for mercy and forgiveness from their so-called _"God"_.

"Besides, he's not the only problem we might have on our hands…" he added, adjusting his glasses.

This time, it was Yukiya who reacted. "Oh great, there's more." the bomber commented in a bored tone.

Edgar sighed in response. "Aye, it ain't going ta be fun." Well, it could be fun, if he had the right weapons. "See, the Emperor saw fit to sick his newest pet mutt, Suzaku Kururugi to Kingsley. And the traitorous mutt brought his Lancelot with him." Edgar explained. Granted, he doubted that Spinny-boy would leave his charge's side, in case the two personalities started clashing, like they did when Shin asked his little ques-oh hohohohoo, that could be quite useful actually…

"Psh, how much trouble could one Knightmare cause, especially with that Goof of yours." Ryo commented.

"First off, it's _Gouf_." Edgar corrected his fellow Warrant Officer, slightly ticked off by the blatant disrespect towards the Mobile Suit-turned-Knightmare.

"And secondly, it's not really the machine that's the problem," After all, the Gouf could stay in the air for longer periods of time than the Lancelot, and there weren't skyscrapers to use for wall-jumping. "the real issue is the wanker controlling it." Oh sure, Spinny-boy's main plan was to recklessly charge into battle, which by itself could be handled with a well-made trap, but combine that with the specs of the Lancelot _and_ Lelouch's hasty _"Live"_ Geass command made him a _very_ big problem to deal with.

If the little shit were to be confronted with a situation where his death was all but guaranteed, the bullshit command would take effect, forcing him to take the course of action that'd let him survive, any so-called morals or emotions be damned. But like all Geass commands, it wasn't an all-powerful get-out-jail-free card, as that bastard would still be killed if it was physically impossible, like crushing him under the heel of a multi-ton Knightmare, or blasting him into a charred corpse with beam weaponry.

"So yeah, we need better weapons if we want to deal with Asplund's brainchild, which mind you, is also equipped with energy weapons." Edgar summarized, deigning to leave out the eccentric scientist's equally eccentric title.

It was at this moment that Leila interjected. "While that is true, we also have the Knightly orders to handle." She knew that the Euro-Britannians wouldn't simply sit on their laurels, not after the flagship unit of one of their Knightly orders was captured.

"Aye, and with Kingsley at the helm, you can throw out any shred of honor." Edgar nodded in agreement, his left knee shaking from the sheer nervousness he felt at the thought of each one of those Grand Masters possessing a 7th Generation Knightmare of their own. Sure, at this point, the only Britannian 7th Gen machines should be the Bradford, Zetland , Lancelot and its variants, but with all the other butterflies flying about, he should expect the worst, and prepare for a field of pain, carnage, death and the loss of innocence, a true field of war, where it wouldn't be some romanticized duel of honor, but just killers struggling to survive, putting their very souls on the line as death neared ever closer, the cold steel of the Grimm Reaper's blade caressing their necks, waiting for either one of them to slip up.

Edgar was snapped out of his thoughts as the plane hit turbulence, rattling the cabin, loose objects sent flying, although that included only jackets that had been taken off, and Styrofoam cups.

 _ **«"Sorry about that, we're getting a bit of a turbulence, so please, strap in, and maybe get some sleep. Polnareff out."»**_

* * *

 **[St. Petersburg, Caesar's Palace…]**

"Gentlemen, this, is truly a dark day…" A man of nobility, with finely combed brown hair, a ponytail snaking around the high collar of his white and cold accented robes, laying on the blue and gold sash attached to said robes, spoke as he addressed the three men before him.

"Not only has my dear friend, Michele Manfredi, the Grand Master of St. Michael's Knights left us, but his successor, Shin Hyuga Shaing has been killed in combat against European forces." A large man with beastly features, dressed in black and dark green robes silently scoffed at the notion, but kept his silence before his Lord.

"And with the fate of his second-in-command, Jean Rowe left uncertain, the Knights of St. Michael are left without a proper leader." While yes, there were the three Swordmasters of the Order, and the young Leader of the Ashura Strike force, they were best-suited for leading small groups, fighting on the frontlines, right beside their men, not for leading large armies, away from the frontlines.

"And so, we have assembled here today to decide who shall take over for the Knights of St-Michael."

"Leave those Ghosts of Hannibal to me, my Knights of St. Gabriel will hunt them down!" The beastly man boldly declared, rising from his seat. St. Michael's Knights had their runs, and in so, they had lost not only their Leader, but their Flagship Knightmare, so now it was time for them to step back before they dragged the names of Euro-Britannia and Grand Duke Augusta Henry Velaines through the mud any longer!

"The Knightly Order of St. Michael's are the brothers of my St. Raphael's, so this is a matter of honor to us, so I ask that you let me handle these Ghosts who've besmirched Manfredi's Knights." Andrea said, glaring at the hulking man, who only scoffed in response.

"And what kind of honor does one who'd take his own life even deserve?" The massive man snarled before turning to face his fellow Grand Master. "And besides, didn't you run away with your tail between your legs after a single unit tore through your battalion?"

The well-groomed blonde sneered, meeting the gaze of the mad hunter who dared call himself a Knight. "And I suppose you would send your men out to kill a pack of wolves with nothing but their bare hands?" He had retreated only because staying there would've done nothing but get his men unnecessarily killed.

"Tch, I guess you're too soft to get your hands dirty, instead following that fool Manfredi everywhere like a love-struck dame." the last insult was what broke the camel's back, as the blonde Grand Master jolted up from his seat, his hand reaching for his sword, a hungry smile spreading onto Gaudefroy's lips as he reached for his own.

"Gentlemen, please, this is not the time to fight amongst yourselves!" Duke Velaines stated, his booming voice freezing the two men in their place. "Andrea, I understand your desire to restore the honor of the St. Michael's Knights, but you shouldn't let yourself be possessed by this desire." he admonished before turning to address the larger man in green. "And Gaudefroy, while I do love your enthusiasm for facing the enemies of our Empire, that is no reason to badmouth your fellow Knights." He understood Gaudefroy's desire to protect his name from any slander that might come from the Noblemen and the homeland, he couldn't let him slander his fellow Grand Masters, especially when it was a matter of honor.

While the Noblemen and officers from the homeland might've forgotten the chivalric origins of their nation, _HE_ would not let such dishonesty and corruption invade his Euro-Britannia, even if it would cost him his life.

"Now, there will be no further in-fighting, is that understood?"

"Yes, my Lord." the two men said, before sitting down, the expression on Gaudefroy's face looking like he had just eaten a ball of pure, concentrated bitterness.

Augusta nodded. "However, we still need to decide who will take over for the Knights of St. Michael… Raymond, perhaps you'd be up for it?" the Grand Duke asked, addressing the auburn-eyed old man who was dressed in flowing orange and white robes, a golden circlet around his head.

The oldest man in the room shook his head. "No, I'm quite afraid that my Order has no part in getting involved in this debate… however, perhaps a duel would be appropriate to decide this argument? Of course, if Sir Kingsley doesn't have a better idea?" The old Knight asked, addressing the young man sitting on the throne of his student and Lord, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Raymond had spent his fair time around militia men and noblemen, and during those times, he had developed a knack for being able to tell the nature of men by their mannerisms and mere presence alone, and yet, the young Military Advisor sent from the Homeland was… _"intriguing"_ to say the least.

The young man in question, dressed in fine gold-accented black robes, his left eye covered by a silver-accented eyepatch that covered a majority of his face's left side, shook his head.

"No, a duel is quite appropriate, Sir Saint-Gilles." the young Military Advisor said, palming the symbol of his power granted to him by His Majesty, a golden scepter.

"The strongest shall get the honor and privilege of hunting down these Europeans, and the weak shall be tossed aside." he chuckled, even as a small voice locked away in the depths of the black-haired man's mind shouted out in denial, only for the voice to go unheard, and the red ring around his lone visible eye, a rich purple color go unnoticed.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! Also, DISCLAIMER: THERE WILL BE NO JOJO ELEMENTS IN THIS STORY, THE PILOT BEING NAMED POLNAREFF WAS JUST A GAG!**

 **Alright. now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and once again, sorry it was late, but stuff happens.**

 **Now then, to compensate, here's an omake that might get turned into a story...at some point in the timeline...**

* * *

Milliardo Peacecraft, or as he was known among the United Earth Sphere Alliance's military, Zechs Merquise, the _"Lightning Count"_ was rather suspicious when his friend, Treize Khushrenada said that he'd find the footage he had to show _"Interesting"_.

"Well Treize, let us see how _"interesting"_ this footage is…" the masked blonde said, as the footage started playing, on three different monitors, each one from a different Aries Mobile Suit.

* * *

 **[Over the skies of Canada…]**

 _ **«"Man, it's boring, nothing but snow, hail and more snow."»**_ a young soldier commented as he and two of his fellow soldiers, each piloting a grayish blue humanoid machine with thruster attached to the shoulders and hips of the machines, those thrusters keeping the multi-ton machine flying through the air, the wings of these machines, the **OZ-07AMS Aries** , sheared the cold winter air of Canada, out on standard patrol.

 _ **«"Ey man, don't knock it. At least boring means we'-"»**_ The Second Aries pilot's words were cut off as static noise assaulted the ears of all three pilots.

 _ **«"What'd you-what the hell's that?!"»**_ One of the Aries pilots exclaimed, pointing at the machine that had appeared from over a passing cloud.

It was completely different from the other Mobile Suits that had been attacking UESA bases around the globe, with a lance attached to its right shoulder and four large protrusions from its main body forming an _"x"_ , yellowish green particles emanating from the cone-like protrusion on its back, most likely an engine of some sorts, and yet, it seemed to be the only thing giving it propulsion, as the lone thruster beneath it couldn't be enough to keep such a machine flying through air as so fluidly that if it were not for the clouds and the dark blue sky, Zechs would have thought the footage to be from space.

It was then that the Aries pilots engaged the mysterious Mobile Suit, which had failed to respond to their calls, two of the trio armed with chain-rifles opening fire. If they were lucky and managed to hit a joint, they might be able to pre-emptively take out this Mobile Suit.

' _Interesting'_ the masked Peacecraft thought as the lone machine danced around the bullets before flying up into the clouds with little to no effort, as if it wasn't affected by gravity or wind resistance.

The OZ pilots chased after their prey, breaking through the cloud layer rather easily, but their quarry was nowhere to be seen. _**«"Where did he-GUARGH!"»**_ The left-most Aries was shot down with a burst of reddish-pink beams, the beams chewing through the Aries' armor like the titanium alloy was little more than wet cardboard.

 _ **«"SHIT! SCRAMBLE! How the hell did this thing get behind us?!"»**_ despite the Pilot's rather crass way of putting it, it was a valid question, as the Aries had given chase only a little over a second after the dark machine had disappeared into the clouds.

The Aries equipped with a missile pod circled around, opening fire as soon as his targeting system locked onto his target. However, the missiles were completely off-target, sailing past the machine as it charged towards the now panicking Aries, who was unloading his missiles with manual aiming, the dark-machine dancing around them, seemingly for no other reason than to show off, a trail of particles following behind it.

And as the Aries finally ran out of missiles and the dark machine closed the distance between the two, the Lightning Count could now see the machine's face. The four glowing purple optics staring down at the Aries served to give it an inhuman and menacing look, the fin on top of its head like a crown of a king, or the horn of a devil.

From the footage of the remaining Aries, Zechs could see that the dark machine, or _"Zero-X"_ as he now referred to it hadn't used any beam weaponry to pierce the cockpit, using only the sharp claws on its manipulators, no doubt a horrifying experience for the young pilot of the Aries.

Seeing how his two comrades had been dispatched with ease, the lone remaining Aries decided to retreat, pushing his thrusters to their limits as the Mobile Suit dived beneath the clouds, trying to contact home base.

 _ **«"What?, Why isn't anyo-"»**_ however, he didn't get far as he was shot down by the Zero-X, the screen turning black as the feed was cut.

* * *

 _«"So, what do you think?"»_ Asked a well-groomed man in blue aristocratic clothes, his voice carrying a sophisticated and gentlemanly tone.

"It's certainly interesting, definitely on par with the other units." Zechs answered. While he had only fought with Zero One, from the reports he had read about the other Mobile Suits that had been attacking the other bases indicated that three Aries would've been dealt with similar ease.

 _«"Indeed. However, this suit seems to be of a different species from them."»_ Zechs had to agree with Treize's assessment. Even ignoring the difference in sheer aesthetic design, the Zero-X's weaponry, or what little of it the Mobile Suit had revealed so far seemed more advanced, yet mundane than what the other units had, the Zero-X's confirmed weapons being a beam rifle, a lance of some sorts, and its claws.

In fact, the whole machine seemed more less flashy than the five other units. No beam scythe, no overwhelming firepower spewing out of guns, no dragon for an arm, no secondary form to transform into. Zechs was honestly rather disappointed by it, to be honest.

 _«"And then there are its other features, like its invisibility on our radars, and how communication around it was cut completely."»_ Treize said as comm data appeared on the screen, detailing how the Aries had sent out SOS signals, and yet no satellites or nearby bases had picked it up.

"You think it's employing an advanced version of Zero Two's stealth system?" Zechs questioned as he looked at the data, also taking note that the Aries' targeting system had been working, but it seemingly had lost the Zero-X for a moment, instead locking onto where it had first locked onto, instead of tracking where the dark Mobile Suit went.

 _«"Possibly. Although that is merely a hypothesis that we can't prove without obtaining both machines."»_ The Lightning Count's friend answered, before he smiled at the masked blonde. _«"So, what do you say? Think you're up for a little hunt?"»_ he asked, albeit just for confirmation.

After a solid minute of silence, the masked man finally said;

"…I can hardly wait." A smile was on his face as he looked at the hunched-over form of the still-incomplete white Mobile suit.

* * *

 **[-Somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean…-]**

"Haaaaaaagh, Jesus fuckin' Christ that was insane." The pilot of the _"Zero-X"_ sighed as he slouched in the cockpit seat. He could literally hear his heart beating in his chest as he fought against the inferior Aries. Oh sure, the mass-production MS' were definitely inferior to the Advanced GN-X, but didn't mean shit when the pilots were far more advanced, and the only reasons he won was because the A-GN-X was _SO_ much better than them, armament and defense-wise.

Hell, he was damn sure that even the Original GN-X's would've made short work of the Aries, even with a GN Drive Tau, but an Advanced one equipped with a proper GN Drive? Talk about overkill…

' _No, don't get too cocky, even a giant can be felled with enough troops.'_ the young man thought to himself as his A-GN-X flew through the moonlit sky. He'd need allies, and since joining up with OZ was a big no-no, his only option were the Gundam Pilots. Although that left the question of which one of them he should approach first and how? Approaching either Heero or Trowa would be troublesome, as the assassin would no doubt consider him and his A-GN-X a threat to be eliminated, while the clown was constantly on the move.

Wu-Fei had a similar problem, but he was also, arguably, the smartest of the five, as he caught onto Treize's scheme before the others did. The self-proclaimed _"God of Death"_ would also be a tricky, potentially fatal choice, considering how he seemed to have no quarrels about turning the Gundam of his fellow pilot into spare parts.

No, ultimately, his best choice would be Quatre, as not only was the boy more of a pacifist, unlikely to attack him if their Mobile Suits met, but he also had resources, ones he could exploit. Although, there was also a chance of the boy's personal army considering him and his MS to be a threat to be eliminated.

However, the pilot was snapped out of his thoughts as the A-GN-X's radar picked up on a fast-moving projectile heading straight for him. Cursing, the pilot fired up the enlarged GN Verniers to dash above the projectile's flight path, while turning his suit around, beam rifle swinging around to meet the attacker.

"Shit." the pilot frowned as he saw exactly who had attacked him. Speak of death's messenger boy, and he shall be a nuisance.

 _ **«"Oh, you're good, aren't ya. Then again, ya wouldn't be a target if ya were taken out that easily."»**_ the annoyingly grating voice of Duo Maxwell came from the equally unmistakable edgelord of Gundams, XXXG-01D Gundam Deathscythe, Endless Waltz version, igniting its beam scythe before it charged at him.

«"So, then, Professor G has deemed me a target to be eliminated?"» the young man questioned as he backed away from the advancing Gundam, beam rifle forcing the scythe-wielder to slow his charge to dodge the beams. While killing the boy wasn't his intention, he wasn't going to roll over and die like some filthy dog, he'd disable the Deathscythe, shoot out its legs and leave it in the sea for Howard and his Sweeper Group to pick up… or at least try that, as there was no guarantee that the Gundam wouldn't blow up.

Regardless, he'd need to do this fast, lest the other Gundam pilots appeared with the orders to kill him, or rather, to destroy his machine. Deathscythe he could probably handle, but all five Gundams? Hell no.

 _ **«"None of ya business!"»**_ Duo replied, the darkly-colored Gundam flying around like pinball as it danced around the GN beams, slowly closing the distance between him and the weird-looking machine he had been given orders to capture.

«"I'm afraid it IS my business, you little shit!"» the young man shouted back, his eyes struggling to keep up with the Gundam as it moved around, as A-GN-X's sensors weren't of much help due to the reaper-like mobile suits stealth systems, just barely able to keep track of it.

' _Alright Roy, think dammit! This game of cat and mouse won't last forever, he'll eventually catch me.'_ Roy thought to himself, trying to think of a way to escape this deadlock. The Deathscythe was an infiltration Mobile Suit with shitty ranged weapons, its main weapon being its beam scythe, but due to its stealth systems, he couldn't lock onto it, and Duo was too experienced to be shot down by his slightly below average marksmanship.

 _ **«"Where the heck did ya even get that Mobile Suit? It's got shit for aiming!"»**_ Duo taunted, only for a stray beam to graze the rousette wings on the Deathscythe's back.

«"…You were saying something?" Roy asked, a smug smile on his face as he switched out his beam rifle for his GN Lance, charging towards the Gundam.

 _ **«"S-Shut up ya bastard!"»**_ Duo shouted, charging to meet the charging mobile suit.

However, as the suits neared one another, Roy smirked within his cockpit. "Gotcha." he said, as the GN Lance fired, blowing out Deathscythe's right arm, the Gundam's namesake weapon plummeting into the ocean along with it.

«"Now then, about my previous question…"» Roy trailed off, jabbing the very tip of his GN Lance into the cockpit hatch of the Gundam, the Gundanium offering little resistance as the threat was made clear.

* * *

 **Alright, and now to cut things short, here are the questions of the chapter:**

 **Q1:** How do you think the war between Euro-Britannia and EU will go, now that Shin isn't alive to pull his coup, and the Europeans have a proper Knightmare to copy from?

 **Q2:** Out of the two Knightly Orders who expressed a desire to fight against the W-O squad, which one do you want to get the honor of doing so? **[DISCLAIMER: The results of this Question will not affect the outcome of the duel.]**


End file.
